


Talk Surveillance to Me

by mixtapestar



Category: Supernatural, White Collar
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2017-12-13 20:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/828714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixtapestar/pseuds/mixtapestar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal calls in an old friend, a tech expert, for a case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talk Surveillance to Me

In the middle of a particularly interesting case on Richard Bailman, a local museum owner, Neal manages to get his hands on a flash drive that should hold the key to solving the case. Unfortunately, when they plug it in to a non-networked computer, the first thing it does is corrupt the hard drive. With some testing by IT, they're able to load the drive on certain machines, but the program is severely complex, and nobody on staff is able to crack the code.

"I think I might actually have someone who can help us on this," Neal says.

"You do?" Peter asks. His eyes narrow. "And where did you meet this person?"

"Around," Neal says, shrugging as he slides his hands in his pockets. "She's never met a firewall she couldn't crack. With permission, of course."

"Of course," Peter says darkly. "And can you provide this girl's real name?"

"She gave it to me as Charlie," Neal says. "That's all I know."

"Can you trust her?"

Neal meets Peter's gaze steadily. "I would trust her with my life."

Peter doesn't like the idea of bringing in a new face, but after another day full of dead ends, his hands are tied. "Call up this Charlie, do whatever voodoo you do and get her in here. She'll only have access to the program, and she'll have to sign _numerous_ confidentiality agreements."

"Of course," Neal agrees. With a _tsk_ , he goes on to say, "Always so suspicious of my suggestions. That hurts, Peter."

******

Charlie shows up at the office in a Spider-Man t-shirt and jeans. Neal reprimands her, but her only reply is to shrug and say, "I gotta be me."

It doesn't take long for Charlie to crack the code and unlock the program. Unfortunately, that's just the beginning.

"It's a scavenger hunt," Charlie explains once they're all in the conference room. "There's a series of steps that unlock with each previous answer. I tried to hack my way through the blocks, but if you give it anything but the correct answer to each question, the program implodes." She stops and makes an appropriate implosion noise, and Neal is surprised to find he's not the only one laughing. He shoots a look at Diana, who firmly ignores him.

"Looks like the only way to move forward is to go on the scavenger hunt," Charlie concludes, and Peter nods. He takes over the meeting, laying out their game plan, but half of Neal's attention is on Charlie and Diana. Huh. Definitely some interesting body language there.

******

Neal is excited to solve a new puzzle, but after his and Peter's first botched attempt to find the unlock code in a local museum, Neal gets relegated to the surveillance van with Diana and Charlie.

They watch the viewscreens as Jones charms his way past security, gaining entrance to the room with exactly what they need. The most important part is not to alert the museum owners of their presence, or the whole thing is blown.

"It's usually more exciting than this," Diana defends at the half hour mark.

Neal laughs, ignoring Diana's glare. "Only when I'm involved."

Charlie shakes her head with a smile. "Trust me, given what I've been through recently, boring is awesome."

They continue to chat to fill the time, and Neal would be incredibly bored if he wasn't carefully analyzing the distance between the two and how it's gradually decreasing the more that they converse. By the time Charlie starts explaining emphatically what she likes so much about the latest _Sherlock Holmes_ adaptation, Diana's pulled her chair up right next to Charlie's. Neal begins to wonder if he could feasibly give them some time alone.

Unfortunately for their conversation, that's when things start to get interesting in the museum. They still need eight more answers from around the museum, each one built on the previous, and it's definitely a two-man job, but Peter's just been burned. He's able to get out before things get ugly, but the museum is now on their guard, and that's Neal and Peter down for the count.

Diana goes in as a basic visitor, as anything else would be viewed with suspicion by museum staff. Her tour guide is a tall blonde in a slim-fitting dress. The team is confident that she has a key to the display in her jacket pocket.

They watch in fascination as Diana leans in close to discreetly ask for directions to the bathroom, her hand slipping into the tour guide's pocket and back out in a matter of seconds. Neal feels a burst of pride. Charlie, on the other hand, goes with a simple, "That was hot."

Neal's not sure at first if she realizes she's still on comms, but when Diana walks away toward the bathroom, she mutters, "Told you things could be exciting without Neal."

Neal scoffs, but he doesn't miss Charlie's blush.

There are a few more close calls, but they manage to get the answers they need and take down the corrupt museum owners by the end of the day.

******

The next day, Neal is buried in paperwork, and he almost misses the surveillance van. When Charlie shows up around lunchtime, Neal teases her, asking if she's going to go straight and start working for the FBI longterm.

"I will never go straight in any situation," she teases right back. "Though I can see why you love it here."

"Oh, you know it. Paperwork is my favorite hobby."

"Beats battling demons," Charlie mutters, reminding Neal of the circumstances under which they met.

"You still, uh, play that 'game'?" Neal asks quietly, raising his eyebrows.

"Not if I can help it," Charlie answers. "Things have been pretty quiet lately. Trying to stay out of trouble." She visibly brightens and waves to someone behind Neal, and he realizes why she's really here.

"Maybe you could settle in for a while," Neal suggests. "Start a new life."

Charlie scoffs. "Not all of us have a 2 mile radius to hold us down." Neal glares at her, and her tone is softer when she goes on, "I'm really just trying to survive right now."

"Fair enough," Neal says.

As Diana joins them, she asks what they've been talking about.

"Oh, just an old RP game," Charlie evades. "Real old school. 8-bit and everything."

"Really?" Diana says, giving Neal a searching look.

"Hey, I may not look it now, but I was a real geek growing up. Just because I wear a suit doesn't mean I don't still have those kinds of interests."

"Can't disagree with you there," Diana says cryptically. Turning to Charlie, she says, "You ready to go?"

"Of course! See ya later, Neal."

Neal watches them go, wondering what it is that makes them click so well, and before they're out the door he's fairly sure Diana makes a well-placed Star Trek reference. Huh. Well that certainly doesn't hurt.

THE END


End file.
